Marching to the Beat of my Heart
by RobinTheLivingShadow
Summary: Young Justice marching band au. Wally always rushes the music but shows up late to the rehearsals. Dick is a phenomenal musician but he can't play loud to save his life. Can these two boys stay in time and match tempos or is this all going to crash and burn? Find out in Marching to the Beat of my Heart. Warning for slight homophobia and graphic language (swearing).
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: The Beginning of the End**

Warmth radiates on Wally's face from the piercing light now flowing through the curtains. Slowly emerging from his slumber he sits up and stretches his limbs in an exaggerated manner. He opens his eyes and is startled to meet similar emerald eyes staring back at him. Wally quickly grabs the covers that fell off his shoulders and uses them as a shield to hide his bare chest.

"MOM! What are you doing in my room?" His eyes, once drowsy, were now on high alert as he watched his mother do a sweep of his room. She moved from his bed to the curtains to open them up more. Wally lifted his hand to shield his eyes from the intense light that the summer sun emitted.

"Good morning to you too Wallace-" Wally winced at the use of his full name "-aren't you forgetting what today is?" He looked at his mother with a scrunched up face. It was the middle of summer. That meant he had no stupid assignments to take care of and no annoying alarm clock to wake him up for school. What could he be forgetting?

Mary West sighed at her son's puzzled look before gesturing to the wall adjacent to his bed. Following her gaze he looks up to his _hang in there kitty_ calendar: a present from is aunt that he couldn't take down. A big red X marked up the four boxes of July and a few days over a note he quickly jotted down. Wally returned to look back at his mom with his expression not changing from earlier. She softly chuckles and moves to exit her son's rather messy room.

"It's actually the 16th sweetie and I'd hurry if I were you." Wally's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. His head whipped back to the calendar and searched for the date hoping by some miracle his time didn't run out. In bold red letters it confirmed his fears.

_First day of marching band! noon._

'CRAP!' Wally rips the covers off his body and jumps off his bed before tripping on his action figures. Falling to the ground he groans as he picks up his tired body. _This is going to be a long day. . ._

* * *

Bruno Mars blasted through Wally's radio as he sped towards his destination. The wind flows through his auburn hair as he sings off key to _The Lazy Song._ Finally pulling up to the school he couldn't help but to get a bitter taste in his mouth as he dreads the fact that his summer was practically over.

Turning off the engine Wally exits his yellow beater car. She really was something. Most are surprised she can even run, much less go over 60mph but she does. Not as fast as he would like but she got the job done. Wally opened the trunk of the car and grabbed his backpack and instrument case. Mr. Smith was so going to rat him out for not practicing over break, but Wally knows that it was out of care. Or at least he thinks so. Looking at his watch he quickly starts making his way over to the football field where they are most likely starting.

Wally was half an hour late but in marching band, especially Mr. Smith's marching band, that was pretty much a death sentence. He can practically hear Mr. Smith's monotone voice in his head going, "early is on time, on time is late, and late means you are running laps." Wally is usually late to rehearsal but he doesn't mind the extra laps since he was a runner and loves running. He walks up to the field in a leisurely manner seeing how he was already late so there was no avoiding the laps he will have to do. Looking around he spots new and old faces to the marching band program. It was always exciting the first few days to figure out who joined and who dropped since the last season. His eyes then trail over to his favorite spot: the color guard.

A love-stricken smile appears on his face as he makes his way over to the group who seemed like they were taking a break. He can hear Megan's cheerful voice across the field as Wally walks towards them. Upon closer inspection he notices that she was talking to a smaller figure. The other girl was holding a flag and practicing a few moves in front of the bubbly senior. Wally couldn't help but to be impressed on how well she handled the toss. She had midnight black hair that was short but not short enough to be considered a pixie cut. Her back was towards Wally so he couldn't see her face but he was able to appreciate her other _assets. _His dream-like trance was only broken after he heard Megan yell out his name.

"Wally!" She waved him down and he slowly jogged towards her to close the distance. When he made it to where she was he placed his case down next to him. Wally flashed his iconic smile as he greeted his not-so-secret crush. He was facing the freckled teen so he accidentally ignored the other female next to him. Not that he noticed or meant to. It's not his fault that Megan was breathtaking.

"Hello Megan. How are you doing today beautiful?" He reached over and kissed her hand and smiled as she giggled at his flirty attempts. Megan knows Wally likes her and he knows that she knows. She isn't exactly leading him on seeing how she thought they sorted things out last year. Even though they talked things out it still didn't stop Wally's heart from racing or the compliments from spilling out of his lips. What can he say? She appreciates the compliments and Wally likes giving them, so what's the harm?

Megan retracts her hand from Wally and places it at her side. Her eyes then drift over to her right and land on the person patiently waiting to be noticed. Megan's eyes widen a bit as she hits her head lightly with the heel of her palm.

"Hello Megan! I forgot to introduce you to my new friend." She moved to the side of her companion and placed a loose arm around them. Wally turns to look at said friend excited to see what the cutie looked li-

"-WAIT YOU'RE A GUY!?" His eyes expand in shock and the color once on his cheeks seemed to fade off his face. The other guard members, and a few band members, look over to see the commotion. When they realized it was just Wally they turned back to whatever they were doing before. Megan's own expression was priceless. Her eyes were as wide as his and her jaw almost fell to the floor. If this was a different situation he probably would have laughed. The flustered redheads contrasted with the rather exasperated raven-haired male. He had his hip cocked out and his arms crossed. Wally couldn't seem to get a read on his eyes due to how tinted his sunglasses were, despite that he could tell he was pissed just on his aura alone. For the first time in the entire exchange the other male spoke to Wally.

"My name's Dick by the way but it seems to fit you a lot better." A cocky grin adorned his face as he uncrossed his arms. Wally's face went from pure shock to offended in a matter of seconds. He raised his eyebrows almost to challenge the shorter male as he took a step towards him.

"Excuse me?" Wally's tone was hostile and that's what broke Megan's trance. She stepped between the two boys and stuck her hands out to create some space. She gave her best smile in hopes of calming them down.

"Uhh Wally I think Mr. Smith wants to talk to you-" she gestures over to the stoic adult standing in front of the press box "- and Dick you should probably head back to your section, break is almost over." Dick and Wally both back down and look towards their future destinations. Dick then turns to Megan and smiles at her sweetly. Wally almost couldn't believe how quickly he was able to switch attitudes.

"Thank you Megan for letting me play with your flag for a while. It was fun." When Dick backed down from his earlier mood Megan couldn't help but to mimic his actions.

"Oh it's no problem Dick. If anything I want to say thank you for helping me with my forty-fives. I had no clue I was falling short." Dick genuinely smiled and nodded his head. He then clapped his hands startling Wally a bit.

"Well I better head on over, I'll see you around Megan!" His tone then became neutral as he addressed Wally "Wallace." With that he waves with a sort of childlike energy as he makes his way back to his section. Megan didn't notice Dick's change of tone but Wally did. And he did not like it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Run Nana Run**

Dick wouldn't consider himself a sadistic person, but boy did it feel good to watch a certain idiot run laps due to how late he was. Yes, Dick will admit he had a more feminine figure than his other male peers but still, that gave Wally no excuse to make a big deal about it. He also wouldn't consider himself someone with a short fuse. That being said, why was he so easily agitated by this Wally character?

As a child Dick was raised in many different locations with many different cultures. Because of this his parents made sure to expose him to various people and ideologies. This helped Dick become more open minded to the world around him which he became grateful for as he grew up. Dick met many kind and loving people in his travels, but he also met some nasty ones too. When someone rubbed him the wrong way his parents always told him to forgive them and to not wish them harm. His parents were always so caring towards others even if they didn't deserve it. . .

Dick took a deep breath and counted to ten like his mother always said. When he was calmer he approached his section once again. His shoes brushed against the turf of the football field thus causing little black pellets of rubber to fly everywhere. Looking over to where the trumpets were having their break Dick couldn't help but to chuckle at some of their antics. He really enjoyed having other people who loved music as much as he did and who aren't a bunch of sticks in the mud. At his old school they didn't have a marching band and only had an orchestra, so they always played the same boring type of music. Here everything was exciting and it didn't put anyone to sleep. He was so glad he was able to convince Bruce to let him go to school at Keystone High. Not only did it have a marching band program but it was one of the best in state. Dick could not wait to see what the season had in store for him.

* * *

Pain. Pain is what was in store for him. Dick was many things but a runner was not one of them. They were finally past the "getting-to-know-you" part of rehearsal and now they were teaching the rookies the daily warm ups. What better way than running a mile on the track in the middle of the scorching day? Dick focused on keeping his pace to not wear himself down, but that has proven to be difficult. When Dick was halfway done with his third lap Wally was already finished. You would think the guy would take a break and cool down but no. Instead he continued running and "encouraging" the others who were lagging behind. The redhead was ahead of Dick but started slowing down to meet his pace. Turning around he started running backwards with a large smile on his face. Wally then started clapping and "cheering on" Dick.

"Come on Dickie! Lift those legs! Come on my Nana can run faster than that!" Wally was definitely feeding off of Dick's misery. Dick clenched his jaw and tried ignoring Wally as he started speeding up to ditch him. It was smart in theory but he underestimated Wally. The other male met up with him again with the same smile on his face.

"See I knew you had it in you." This game of cat and mouse continued on until Dick finally finished. Both boys started their cool down process as they waited for the others to finish their laps. Dick had his hands behind his head as he tried slowing down his heart rate. Even though he was focusing on his breathing he was still able to catch the water bottle flying towards him. Dick grabbed it but sent a puzzled look towards Wally.

"Drink. You are definitely going to need it if you are going to survive this season." Wally took a sip of his own drink as Dick opened up his water bottle. The cool liquid felt nice down his throat as he drank the water. "I suggest you bring a big bottle like mine to every practice." He shook his water bottle to emphasize his point. "You may think you don't need it but trust me you don't want to pass out in the middle of the field during drill."

Dick said a quiet thanks to Wally after he finished drinking. Wally was right on the bottle thing. He only brought a plastic bottle thinking it was enough but apparently it wasn't. Dick looked back at Wally and tried to figure out why he was being so nice to him. Wally took note of the staring and wiped his mouth after one last gulp of water.

"Look. . .I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot. Mr. Smith told me about you and. . . we could really use players like you." Wally swung the water bottle around as he continued talking. "So do you maybe wanna start over?" He stopped playing with the bottle as he looked back to Dick. Emerald eyes met sapphire ones as he tried gauging Dick's reaction.

Dick would be lying if he said he wasn't hesitant at first but his dad's words starting ringing in his head. 'To defeat an enemy you must simply make them your friend.' Dick moves his bangs away from his sweaty forehead before meeting Wally's gaze.

"I'd like that Wallace. . .a do over." He took a step towards Wally and stuck out his hand. "My name is Dick Grayson. What is yours?"

Wally chuckles and mirrors Dick's actions. "The name's Wally West. Nice to meet you Dick." Both boys shake hands before Mr. Smith's monotone voice rang over the speakers.

"Normally we don't do a mile run everyday but we just wanted to assess your physical abilities. Now that that is over can I please have the upperclassmen join Ms. Lance at the front sideline? All underclassmen just follow the upperclassmen." Wally lets go of Dick's hand and motions him towards the crowd.

"Come on Nana let's go." He lightly teases the shorter male as he makes his way over to the front sideline. Dick this time wasn't that offended as he followed Wally for the warm ups.

* * *

The day finally came to an end without them even needing their instruments. It was mostly just an ice breaker day and for new people like him to learn the warm-ups. All in all it was pretty easy.

Dick sighed in relief as the air conditioning in the school hit his warm skin. He stayed behind a bit on the field to let the crowd pass. When there was finally an opening he snuck in and tried finding an open locker. Thankfully there was one near the back of the lockers. Dick slide his case in and locked it with the lock they provided. When he turned to leave the band room lockers he was bumped into what he assumed was a wall. He fell back a bit but an arm wrapped around his waist to catch him. Dick became stable and looked to see who he bumped into.

"Careful there dude." Wally let go of Dick when he noticed he was okay before moving his case into the locker next to Dick's. Dick rubbed the back of his neck a bit embarrassed that he bumped into Wally.

"Noted. Thanks." Dick sides steps to avoid colliding with Wally again but Wally wouldn't have it. He turned to face the freshman as he leaned against the lockers.

"So how was the first day of being a Wildcat Warrior?" Dick took a few seconds to reply before shrugging his shoulders.

"The music and warm-ups aren't that hard and my section is pretty cool. A bit extra but nothing I can't handle. . .And besides your little screw up, everyone here was really nice. I'm definitely excited to see how the season goes." Wally winced at the mention of his little mistake earlier. Now it was his turn to be embarrassed as he played around with the water bottle in his hand.

"Yeah. . .sorry about that dude. I was distracted by Megan and to be fair from afar you do have a pretty girly ass." Dick's soft smile from before is quickly replaced with a look made from stone. He clenched his jaw and crossed his arms as he raised an eyebrow at the soon to be dead meat.

"Excuse you?" His voice was even but his words were laced with malice.

"What?-" Wally lifts his hands up to calm the slowly bubbling volcano in front of him. "It's not my fault that you have a girly figure. If you want we can work on that throughout the season. You know-" he lightly punches Dick's arm "build up that muscle. That way you won't look like some fag from the back. . .But yeah no homo dude." Wally chuckled and flashed his signature grin as if nothing he said was wrong.

Sorry mama and papa but now Dick was seeing red. He poked Wally in his chest and leaned in dangerously close. "You are not allowed to check out my ass, call me a fag, AND say no homo in the same conversation. What is wrong with you." Before Wally could respond Dick was already out the door. Any second more with Wally and Dick swears he would have decked him.

Wally looked out the door where Dick exited. ". . .Geez what got his undies in a twist?"

* * *

**Thank you for the reviews!**


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